


Grophet's Gambit - Rishi

by DancingHare



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 08:37:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14040369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancingHare/pseuds/DancingHare
Summary: Kazta and the smuggler crew attempt to find their contact on Rishi -- and find more trouble than they bargained for.





	Grophet's Gambit - Rishi

“There you are, Major, all fixed up.” The twi’lek medic had finished applying a medicated mesh, and injected the area around the site with a kolto infusion. “I’d tell you to keep off of it, but I know you won’t, so just try not to overdo it.”

Kazta’s upper leg had taken a pretty bad hit from the pirate leader’s blaster, while her armor had absorbed much of the force of impact, there was still enough to discolor her thigh into a nasty black-purple bruise. The actual wound looked bad, but once cleaned up it should heal without any problems. Not that she was going to take his advice about staying off it, either. There wasn’t time for that now. She was aware of the pain, but it wasn’t overwhelming, rather it seemed to anchor her back to the reality of the situation — one of their team was missing, and she’d left him behind. That stung far more than any blaster injury ever could. She kept replaying it over and over in her mind, searching for something she could have done differently. She could have stayed on the dock with Draiik, jumped down from the shuttle ramp, distracted them, something. Instead, they’d opted to get the slaves to safety and left the captain to fight them off alone. While she had some faith in his ability to shoot, the odds were against him. And she’d just left him there.

“Major? You feeling okay? You look a little pale.” Kif’s voice shook her from her thoughts. No sense brooding on it. What had happened had happened, now they needed a plan. Kazta nodded, sliding down from the makeshift table and stepping back into her armor. The twi’lek looked as if he was about to protest, but thought better of it.

The slaves they’d got out of Rishi were a mix of twi’leks, mirialans, humans and zabraks. Kazta had seen to it that they’d been fed, and after a trip to the refresher most of their moods seemed brightened. They were excited to leave Rishi behind and begin new lives, though they worried about others that they know. Kazta wanted to promise that she’d get them out too, but she didn’t want to mislead them. It had been difficult enough to move these ones without losses — she and Kif had left them behind while they returned to the camp to look for Draiik. They hadn’t found him, but they had found a recording of him being roughed up and then loaded onto a shuttle. And more importantly, they’d found Shani, safe and relatively unharmed. Kazta still didn’t feel any better about abandoning her, but she was thankful that Shani was back with them. One of the slaves said that he’d been working on a project in Tattooine, but he couldn’t remember any more detail than that. It was at present the only lead they had, and Kazta was willing to search every inch of that sandy hell-pit if she had to.

Still, they needed more than just a name. Kazta had spent her free hours combing through her old reports — something about that pirate leader had seemed naggingly familiar. She hadn’t realized it then, in the heat of the moment, but after replaying it over in her head, it wouldn’t leave — like a catchy song. He’d been a beast of a man, huge and broad, well equipped with both heavy armor and firepower, in addition to a shield generator and who knows what else. The way he’d scowled when he climbed up out of the infested water, blood streaking over his wild grimace, jarred a memory in Kazta. On Rishi, he’d called himself the Enforcer, but she couldn’t find that in her records. She did, however, find a report from Belsavis. Kazta didn’t remember much of that mission, but there had been one prisoner who’d rallied an entire wing of his prison into a vicious combat force. Kazta’s squad had been called in to deal with the situation after the guards had taken some serious losses, and once they got there she understood why. The man was cunning, ruthless, and determined. She had no doubt that whatever he was tied to wouldn’t be unravelled easily. And now he had Imperial backing, likely Hutt as well. The compound on Rishi hadn’t been some temporary camp — they had turrets, walkers, ships, and a lot of manpower. Kazta knew that it had to be something big for them to spend credits like that. The slave, Carlo, had said it was a weapon. What kind of weapon would have to be hidden in the middle of a desert planet? And what kind of plans did they have for it? Now their crew, down one captain, had to try to stop them.


End file.
